University of Oklahoma Cellular & Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Pro

We expanded outreach during the 2014-2015 academic year. In addition to our 3 annual events- Science in Action Day at the Sam Noble Museum in Norman, OK (9/28/2014), the Women in Science Conference in Tulsa, OK (10/14/2014), and Brain Awareness Week at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK (3/27-28/2015)- we also participated in Middle School STEM Day in Shawnee, OK (10/28/2014), a visit to Eisenhower Elementary School in Norman, OK (12/3/2014), and ScienceFest at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, OK (4/30/2015). The last event alone attracted approximately 500 4th- and 5th-graders to our exhibit; we hope to add this to our annual events. At each event, our team of volunteers led the following 6 activities: 1) see/touch a human brain 2) see/hear electricity from your own muscles (surface electromyograms from the biceps) 3) see how your brain changes in a minute (throwing after wearing prism goggles) 4) fool your brain with proprioceptive illusions (muscle massager on triceps tendon with eyes closed) 5) see how fruit flies stop moving when their synapses temporarily stop functioning (temperature-sensitive mutation) and 6) experience how smell is integrated with taste in the brain (judging jellybean flavor with eyes and nose closed). In addition, we began giving a survey form to visitors, which so far shows that about 40% did not know fundamental concepts, such as that their muscles and nervous systems use electricity, before visiting our exhibit.